Forever Love on Fireweed Island (Island County Book 4) (24 page)

The blades were still spinning around the chopper, but Jake came over to my side and unharnessed me and helped me out. He motioned for me to stay low, and by the time I got to the safe zone, I was nearly crawling.

Hildie had changed from waving to laughing as she saw me emerge from the lavender, and I realized around this woman that the few things she knew about me weren’t exactly the most dignified.

“You’re certainly an interesting character,” Hildie said, giving me a tight, meaningful hug. “You’ll definitely fit in well with this group.”

“I follow direction really well. If you say duck, I duck.” I grinned and she let go. “Jake’s brother has been dying to meet you.”

I glanced nervously at Jake, who just shrugged.

“Umm. I just wanted to tell you that I read
Smelling in Purple
, and it was one of the most profound experiences I’ve ever had. Between finishing your book and this helicopter experience, I think my life is forever changed.”

“Oh, sweetie. I hope my son can change it even more.”

“Okay, mom, so let’s get her all settled and introductions made inside,” Jake said, giving his mom a long squeeze. “We don’t need to scare her off immediately.”

Hildie winked at me, and I giggled as Jake ushered us to the long path leading down a hill.

“I hope you don’t mind, but it’s a full house. I’ve got you and Jake in the same room.”

I nearly tripped over my feet and looked over at Jake, whose grin couldn’t get wider if he were missing ears.

“It’s the room with two twin beds,” she continued, and a huge wave of relief hit me, followed by an even bigger wave of disappointment. The idea of being forced to sleep in the same bed as Jake sounded really appealing.

We rounded the bend, and a beautiful Cape Cod sat behind a white picket fence. A bright red door welcomed visitors and set off the lavender in decorative pots by the door.

“This is really beautiful,” I said. “I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to function in the rest of the world after this vacation.”

Hildie chuckled. “At least you only have to go to Fireweed.”

“So true. I do love it there.”

Hildie opened the door to a grand entry with a pair of brown wicker chairs and a multi-colored hooked rug in bright blues and reds in the middle of the floor. The walls were covered in photos, and within seconds, two giant, yellow Labrador retrievers ran toward us.

“Walter, sit,” Hildie commanded, and both dogs sat immediately.

I looked over at Jake, and he didn’t seem to notice that his mom’s dog was named Walter.

“What’s the other one’s name?” I asked, kneeling down to pet them both.

“Penny.”

“Walter and Penny, you are such good little pooches,” I said, scratching right behind their ears.

“Don’t you think that’s a little overkill, bro?” I heard a man’s voice come from down the hall that sounded an awful lot like Jake’s. “We get it. You’re a fancy—”

“This is my brother, Chance.” He cut off his brother and grinned, squeezing his shoulder.

“Ouch.”

“You’re not that tender.” Jake laughed. “Chance, meet Jewels.”

Chance looked almost identical to Jake, except he had a few more lines around his blue eyes and his blond hair was a little more bleached, presumably from being outside on the lavender farm more. He was in a pair of plaid shorts and a grey t-shirt.

Chance pulled me into him and gave me a welcoming hug. “Any woman who can take my brother off our hands is a woman I’ll love immediately.”

Hildie playfully smacked Chance, and he just laughed.

“Do you two want to get freshened up? Lunch is in thirty minutes. I’ve got pulled pork in the crockpot,” she told us.

“Oh, so Chance is okay with eating
Babe
?” I asked innocently. “I thought that was kind of a thing.”

Hildie shot me a beautiful smile and nodded. “I knew I liked you the moment I met you.”

“It was just when I was in grade school. I’ll go get your bags.” He shrugged and turned around to go out the door.

“Try high school,” Jake shouted after his brother.

“In all fairness, I felt the same way after that movie,” I called after him.

Chance raised a hand toward us, and I halfway expected an obscene gesture, but we got a wave instead.

“He seems like a good sport.”

“He’s the best younger brother a guy could ask for.”

“You could almost pass for twins,” I told him.

“I hear that a lot.” Jake motioned for me to follow him up the stairs. “The bedroom with the two single beds is on the third floor.”

“We could always push them together,” I whispered so softly I wasn’t sure if he heard.

By the time I reached the bedroom, I was slightly out of breath and relieved the house didn’t have a fourth story. Apparently, re-shelving library books wasn’t the most reliable workout.

Jake pushed open the door to reveal the sweetest bedroom I’d ever seen. Tiny pink roses covered just about every surface. Wallpaper, bedspreads, curtains, everything was covered in the penny-sized roses.

“My great aunt used to visit in the summers, and this was where she stayed. She hated traveling, but my mom figured if she recreated my great aunt’s bedroom, she’d be happier.”

“Did it work?”

“Unfortunately.” A wry grin spread across his lips. “She wasn’t the kindest lady.”

I laughed and walked into the room. There was a small chest of drawers under the window, and a chair next to one of the twin beds.

“Are you going to fit on that bed?” I asked.

“Most of me will. It wouldn’t be the first time my feet dangled over the end.”

“Don’t mind me. I’m just the poor brother, schlepping all your bags.”

“You’re a wonderful brother.” Jake smiled and took both bags from Chance and set them on either bed.

“I know.” Chance looked over at me, and a wry grin touched his lips. “How in the world have you been able to put up with him?”

“It hasn’t been easy.”

Jake shook his head, smiling, and unzipped his bag. He pulled out the three books and handed them to me. “They’re officially out of my hands and into yours without even a wrinkle.”

Chance turned around and went back down the stairs.

“I’ve got to say that your taste in reading material is really eclectic.” He sat on the bed, and I carted the books to mine.

I glanced over at Jake and suddenly felt like we were two counselors at summer camp.

It made me chuckle.

“What did you think?”

“That I’m a fan of historical romance and had no idea,” he said wryly. “Some of those moves . . .”

“In a corset, no less,” I teased.

“I can see the beauty in the author’s writing, and there’s such a running current of feminine prowess.”

My brow arched in surprise. “Yeah?”

“Loved it. And those other two books were phenomenal. I’m sticking to your selections.”

“I thought I got a new blog follower this morning,” I teased.

“Actually, I signed up the day I fixed it.”

I wondered if he’d read all my posts.

“Would you like to walk the grounds after lunch?”

“I’d love it.”

He held out his hand, which I took, and we wandered back down to the first floor. Laughter echoed through the halls, and we followed the sound to the kitchen, where Chance, Hildie, and several people I didn’t recognize gathered around a kitchen island. The sweet smell of barbeque wafted through the air, and everyone eagerly stared at the crockpot.

“Everyone, this is Jewels.” Jake began immediately with the introductions. “That’s Carmen. She lives down the road from here, and my mom gets all her eggs fresh from her every week.”

Carmen appeared to be in her early fifties and extremely fit. Her long, gray hair was braided around her head and her smile was kind.

“I’m Donald,” a male around our age stepped away from the island and stuck out his hand. His brown hair was buzzed short, and he wore a pair of khakis. “I take care of all the shipping for the farm.”

“Nice to meet you both,” I said, taking his hand.

“That’s my niece, Erica.” Carmen pointed at a teen, who looked sullenly in my direction. Even though she was a pretty girl, her expression almost hid the beauty in her eyes. I was so glad to be out of my teens.

“I’m Emily.” A beautiful redhead walked over, towing a man behind her. “And this is Derek. We live at the other end of the island half of the year.”

Derek stuck out his hand. “And we live in Montana the other part of the year.”

“Sounds fun.”

Derek slid his arm around Emily’s waist, and I noticed how much she sank into him. They were a super sweet couple, and I was sure I’d have fun getting to know her.

“Dessert is from Gabby’s Goodies,” Emily announced to the room to cheers.

“Wow, Gabby gets around.” Jake laughed.

“You’ll be in heaven,” I teased him.

“Have you tried her cran-oatmeal cookies?” Emily asked us both, and we shook our heads.

“Amazing. I used to work for her at her flagship store, and let me tell you, it was nearly impossible not to eat the contents of the entire store every morning.”

“She seems like such a sweetheart too.”

“You know her?” Emily asked, surprised.

“My sister is pretty good friends with her. We’ve met a few times since I moved back to Fireweed.”

“What a small world,” Derek said and began dishing up a plate for each of them.

“Yes, it is,” Hildie agreed, ushering her son and me into line to dish up.

Lunch was filled with stories of past July Fourth celebrations and the occasional embarrassing dig at Jake, courtesy of his brother.

I’d just rinsed off my dish when Jake wrapped his arm around my waist, sending a wave of alarming need through me in a kitchen full of people. I glanced up at him and saw the same longing flick through his gaze.

“Why don’t you two boys go help Donald? He’s got a stack of orders that need to be filled, and it would be nice if he could start his holiday early.”

Jake tensed. “What about Jewels?”

“It’ll give us girl time.” Hildie smiled, and I saw the determined look in her gaze. There was no questioning how we’d be spending the rest of our afternoon.

“This will be the fastest I’ve ever worked,” he growled softly next to my ear. “I’ll get back as soon as I can.”

I giggled as he kissed my ear and watched him leave the kitchen with the rest of the group, leaving Hildie and me at the sink.

“It seems you two have really hit it off since I last saw you.”

I nodded, unsure of what exactly to say.

“I’m hoping I finally talked some sense into him,” she continued and shook her head.

“About what?” I asked, following her to the kitchen table.

She let out a sigh and slid into a chair, and so did I.

“Since his divorce, I noticed him closing himself off from the world.” She grimaced. “I love the islands, don’t get me wrong. In fact, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, but I was worried about him making the move. It was just one more way for him to avoid interacting with life and facing what had happened.” Her eyes locked on mine. “Every time I spoke with him, it sounded like he was brushing things under the rug with you.”

“He did start off that way,” I agreed, smiling. “But I think we’re over that hurdle.”

“Good. I hope so, because starting things off on the wrong foot can really throw the entire relationship off-kilter.”

I nodded in agreement. “I have to admit that it made me uncomfortable because it felt like I was the one doing all the talking, and the number one rule of dating seems to be don’t bring up past relationships. For some reason, every time I opened my mouth, that’s what seemed to come out.”

“I think it’s only human to want to talk about things so personal, and it worried me that my son was avoiding the topic like the plague.”

“I’m glad he’s opening up.”

“Me too.” Her eyes twinkled with happiness. “My only hope is that he’ll be ready to love again one day. Did he tell you what his ex-wife did to his alpacas?”

My blood turned icy the way she asked.

“He said they went away.” My voice was hoarse. “I assumed she sold them to other farms.”

“She sold them, but she sold them to places not specializing in fleece.”

It was like the chair had been pulled out from under me. The cruelty that represented was something I couldn’t even comprehend.

“So he wasn’t kidding about her being a psychopath.”

“He stopped believing in love after that. Temporarily . . . at least.”

“I can see why.”

She clasped my hands and nodded, her gaze finding mine. “I know you’ve been through a lot of pain, but not all men are created equal. There are good ones out there.”

“I’d like to believe that. I hope so.”

“I know so. My husband worshipped the ground I walked on, and I raised my boys to do the same. We all deserve to be loved, and we all deserve to be treated like the beautiful women we are. It’s how and who we choose to give ourselves to that matters. Jake’s one of the good ones.”

“I chose wrong on the last one.”

“It happens, but regardless of what happens in the future with my son or any man you meet, don’t lose yourself. It’s the most important thing to keep track of, and once you let it go, it’s hard to find again.”

“Thank you.”

Her features softened. “Before I met their dad, I found myself in a relationship based on all the wrong things. It didn’t bring out a good side in either of us. He enjoyed variety in all things.”

“I know how that works. My husband was experienced in the Marriott shuffle. New city, new women.”

“But you survived.” Hildie looked triumphant.

“I did.”

So many hours went by that when Jake and Chance walked back into the kitchen, we had already started dinner and begun making plans for August.

Things at the Harlen home felt easy and right. I never had that in my previous relationship. I always felt like I was walking on thin ice, and apparently, I had been.

“You two get into trouble?” Jake asked, coming up behind me and kissing me on the cheek as he wrapped his arms around me. My body sank into his, and I felt the strength in his embrace.